Andy Ridley

RICH WORLD IS
CULPRIT

India observed the
Earth Hour alongside 92 other
countries between 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm on Saturday,
March 28, 2010. As the clock struck 8:30 pm on
Saturday, hundreds of Delhiites and people in
other Indian cities willingly switched off their
lights for one hour to observe Earth Hour, a
global climate awareness initiative. Here is the
complete text of an exclusive interview of the
Executive Director Earth Hour Andy
Ridley with fnbworld's
Managing Editor,Ravi
V.Chhabra

fnbworld: What is the
Earth Hour philosophy and agenda for next
5-years?

EH:The
Earth Hour philosophy has always been to engage
all parts of society in building a sustainable
future. Earth Hour has to be about what can be
done to resolve climate change and how we go about
it as the world develops. We will continue to
bring new countries, regions and cities on board
and focus on driving innovative practices that can
be sustained all year round.

fnbworld: What’s the
difference between the developed and developing
world in terms of awareness for saving
earth/environment?

EH: The vast bulk of
environmental damage has been done by the
developed world and consequently, the developing
world has been disproportionately left with the
damage. Emerging nations and economies such as
India and Brazil are moving ahead on their path to
climate change and are taking action instead of
waiting for direction. Earth Hour continues to
provide a platform for both developed and
developing nations to take action on climate
change regardless of regional, economic and
cultural differences.

fnbworld: Do you have specific
plans for India and South-East Asia?

EH:Five million Indians
across 56 Indian cities participated in Earth Hour
2009. We are aiming this year to go even further
and get more supporters and cities on board.
Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore are the official Earth
Hour cities and we also have the support of over
15 other big cities including metropolises like
Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmadabad and state capitals
like Lucknow, Amritsar, Bhopal, Gangtok to name a
few. The campaign was launched in India on March
10 with noted film actor Abhishek Bachchan as the
Ambassador. The weekend before Earth Hour there
will be a cycle rally in Delhi to raise awareness
on simple things people can do in everyday life to
reduce their environmental impact. Similarly,
there are also several activities being planned in
other cities including a candle light vigil in
Bangalore, a painting and music festival in
Gangtok and cycle rally in Chennai.

fnbworld: How can
individuals/citizens contribute to your movement
round the year?

EH: We at Earth
Hour aim to raise awareness on the power of
actions - big or small - that individuals,
governments and organizations can adopt towards
conserving energy. The government of Delhi has
made Earth Hour a quarterly initiative, thereby
taking it beyond a symbolic gesture and making it
a self perpetuating movement. Individuals and
businesses can follow the lead of Earth Hour
supporter ING Vysya Bank who switched off across
all their locations in 2009. They subsequently
adopted energy conservation initiatives at their
headquarters and were able to cut electricity
consumption by over 15%. Earth Hour encourages
supporters to consider ways of being more
efficient and responsible about energy use, not
just for one hour but for every hour. Whilst India
has many additional challenges to overcome, the
biggest challenge is changing people attitudes
about energy consumption. Earth Hour is well on
the way to succeeding at this.

fnbworld: Which is the most
potent pollutant for environment and marine
life?

EH:The most
detrimental thing to our environment is not acting
to resolve the issue of climate change. It affects
every living being on the planet so we all need to
act to resolve it. Earth Hour has managed to bring
millions of people from around the world together
on a really important issue. The public’s
support of Earth Hour has meant that, through
symbolic action, we have made climate change and
the environment a top priority and are moving to a
more sustainable future.

fnbworld: Your views on
the outcome of the last concluded Environment
Summit?EH:We had
hoped that Copenhagen would deliver an ambitious
and legally binding solution to climate change.
The fact that this did not happen means that our
journey to a climate change solution is longer
than anyone had hoped, however, historically,
positive change has taken many years to achieve
success. Copenhagen did achieve positive outcomes.
A consensus was forged among global leaders to
hold temperature increases to below two degrees
Celsius. Some of the world’s biggest
economies and emerging nations are saying they
will move ahead regardless, such as India, China
and Brazil. Most importantly, civil action brought
together 118 world leaders for the very first time
on this issue. Collective action will continue to
strive for success on the journey for a climate
change solution. It is not a question of whether
it is possible but simply, when it will
happen.

fnbworld:
Any on-the-ground GREEN initiatives by your
organization?EH:The WWF has many Green initiatives, we are
working on the Ganga and engaging with both the
public and policy makers along the stretch of the
river. Last year, we finished a campaign in Delhi
to educate citizens about better energy use. Earth
Hour itself is a large campaign that engages over
5 million citizens, 100 corporate supporters and
over a 1000 schools across the country to lead
them towards conserving energy.

fnbworld: Have you been to
India and what are your observations on
bio-diversity in India?

EH:
Yes, I have travelled extensively in
India, in particular to Assam with WWF and my
wife. Kaziranga Park was one of the most dramatic
and beautiful places I have been in the world. I
think India has amazing bio-diversity, however,
the challenge is managing the conflict between
humans and wildlife. Balancing the demands of
humans and the loss of habitat for wildlife is one
of the main issues facing WWF. It’s an issue
worth resolving not only for the benefit of India,
but the benefit of the world.

fnbworld: The Indian government
is actively pursuing eco-friendly initiatives like
saving electricity and switching over to CFL bulbs
in rural areas. Do you also fund such projects for
remote and tribal areas in less developed
nations?

EH:There
are many other initiatives taking place through
out the world such as WWF South Pacific who has
focused efforts on conservation and natural
resource management of the marine environment.
Governments of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and
Malaysia are working with WWF to conserve 220,000
km2 of Borneo rainforest - almost 1/3 of the
island - through a network of protected areas and
sustainably-managed forests, just to name a
couple. One of the great things about Earth Hour
is that offers an opportunity for the world to see
some of the amazing initiatives that are happening
in remote and populated areas of the world. For
example, WWF Mozambique is planning an Earth Hour
event which will showcases the benefits of
renewable energy by featuring green appliances
such as a solar cooker.